


Terrace

by Sulfersnout



Series: Top of the World [1]
Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: I AM SORRY, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I will probably make illustrations at some point, M/M, Magic is Real, Maybe - Freeform, Multi, Please Don't Hate Me, Shifterstuck AU, Slow To Update, just read it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 21:31:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2403590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sulfersnout/pseuds/Sulfersnout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having lived his entire life deep beneath the dead canopy of his world, Karkat seeks to escape the pitch black darkness that has been his home. Karkat is willing to risk everything to escape this life with nothing to lose.  John however has always lived with the freedom to go wherever he wishes, be with whoever he wishes, to travel wherever he wishes, but with the responsibility to grow up and take over an entire tribe of people as the Heir to his father. What happens when the people who's lives exist in completely opposite realms of mind and life, meet? Well, with a few problems in the way, and the fact that trolls like Karkat kill and devour humans like John and the tribe he is tasked to protect, we will find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Terrace

With each step the world grew a little brighter. The farther he made it the more the steps once made begin to fade. Karkat hoped it would fade faster. Each time he put his foot down on the springy beds of bioluminescent moss and that covered the floor of his world like a natural carpet, his presence came closer and closer to being known. Every footfall disturbing the moss, the plant reacting almost instantly as it glows a sparkling blue

 

“Fucking moss! Stop glowing!! You are going to give me away! If I am spotted this far from my Hive I will get culled! So quite it you shitty excuse for decor!” Lo and behold, the moss gives 0 attention to Karkat’s slightly panicked screaming, for it is moss, it is the epitome of ‘No Shits Given’.

 

With a growl of frustration Karkat trekked on, watching from the corner of his eye as the moss began to dim without the irritation of Karkat’s body heat looming over it. In the dim light he glanced around, finally letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in a long, exasperated, and irritated sigh. With practiced precision he weaved through the trees in the near pitch black world he inhabited, stepping over streams he heard from a mile back, leaping over rocks that held not even a silhouette, but held a presence in the dark, knowing the smooth, long dead trunks of petrified wood to be covered in fungus that would hold his warmth as a source of irritation far longer than the moss, making him easier to track. 

 

There it was again. 

 

It’s not that far anymore. 

 

A soft sound of rustling, claws, and settling scales. Slowly drawing nearer across the ceilings. 'Scritch scritch' and the crumbling of stoney wood. 

 

It’s not a lusus. It’s hunting him. 

 

With a shot of adrenaline to his veins, Karkat bolted, light footed as he ducked behind and under every fallen branch and overhanging slate of stone to try and lose the pursuer. The clawing that was once so soft now a mad scrabble as the creature moved through the cavern, the branches that hung above them so tightly woven that not a spot of sunlight had permeated it in a thousand years, allowing not a single clue of sight as to where the monster moved. 

The scent of blood was everywhere!! Karkat had no way to track it like that. It was too fast for the sound of it to be pinpointed and moved too sparatically. Its silhouette and the bioluminecent marks on it's scales only making it more difficult to be tracked. Every swift movement left streaks of color in the air that couldn't be traced because they lingered so long and intersected too often. "SHIT! This bastard won't get off my tail! I'm gonna get caught at this rate!" he gasped as he miscalculated a step and dropped a foot into a ditch, rolling as he's propelled forward on his momentum, pulling his favored weapons, two sickles, from his belt holsters. A weak growl of resistance sat in his throat as he springs up, swiveling his head from left to right as he takes on a defensive stance with ease. 

"I tried my best to get there, but I guess my new world is going to be Hell. But I won't go without a fight you bastard, so COME AT ME!!" yelling into the darkness he's met with absolute silence. Then, a deep resonating growl to match Karkat's, each becoming one of pure aggression. 

 

Mumbling to himself beneath his growl "It's too loud.. I can't tell where it's coming from". Each of his long, pointed ears swiveling as a dog's would to pick up the source of the sound, when there, a patch of the moss is glowing with the silhouette of a massive, clawed foot planted in the midst of the aggravated foliage. Karkat could practically hear some pompous asshole he didn't know chortling at the irony that what was once the thing he was sure was going to get him killed, became his savior. He hated that pompous asshole with every fiber of his being. 

 

Now was his chance! With a lunge he swiped his sickles at where he was sure the creatures throat was. As massive as the creature was, and even with it's plated armor Karkat was sure his weapon would hit home with a sickening crunch and a blade that cut the plates like butter. But his swing was met only with air and his chest was met with the swing of a serrated tail. With a thud he fell to the ground after being tossed through the air as if his body was a simple ragdoll. Darkness sat on the edge of his vision threatening to spill over the walls of his mind and throw him into unconsciousness. His sickles sat a foot away from him, so, with intense pain splitting his head which hit the ground first, and his ribs which hit the edge of the tail first, he pulled himself across the moss. 

 

"I'm not done y-yet.. you.. fucking" he coughed in pain, only sending a bolt of pain through his chest with each convulsion "fucking bastard.." trying to focus on something he noticed the blood spilling from his arm and the gash along his collar, the bright candy red that led him to this plan being claimed by the moss before it could be seen anywhere but his torn clothing. 

 

"No..." His vision faded, in and out, each laps of sight getting shorter and shorter, more faded, "I have to know.." With an outstretched arm he gripped the handle of his sickle " if I can live.." The creature stood over him now, it's breaths loud in his ear as it leaned down to look at him "I don't want to die" There, he saw it, a crack of light through the tangle of the dead canopy. "fuck you" With a scowl that turned ever so slightly at the corner, a smirk, really as close as he could get, he looked the creature right in the bronze eye it held by his face " I found it. I got close. You couldn't stop me from seeing what they said never existed without the Empresses' consent" The creature growled low, suddenly joined by a second one that roared above his despite how close he was "I found it..." As everything went black Karkat could have sworn he saw it, violet. And suddenly felt so at home, the familiar color fueling his vision in it's last moment. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The wind curled around him, each tendril sweeping across his face with a familiar swipe, the open sky looming before him, telling him of freedom and adventure to be had beyond it! With a flap of huge feathered wings he was brought back from his moment of pure contentedness with the bursts of breeze gliding across his face and through his hair. "DAD" he called against the current of warm wind "I THINK I AM READY TO TRY THE DIVE AGAIN!! I CAN FEEL THE WIND JUST AS YOU DO NOW!! I'M READY!!!" He didn't need a sound, nor a nod to know his father believed he was ready, he knew his father would let him. He knew he would be there to catch him, to protect him, to guide him. 

 

Taking a handful of white and grey feathers in hand, the boy took the leather harness he wore in hand, and with practiced ease he undid every buckle. He stood, facing the wind, the powerful muscles of the massive bird beneath him shifting as it prepares. The young man can practically hear the sound of his father saying "I know you can do it, son, I am so proud of you, John" as he leans to one side, slipping off the creature without a fear in the world. 

 

Behind his goggles John closes his eyes, savoring the sensation of free falling, only the wind there to cushion his plummet. Opening one eye he watches carefully as the ground moves closer and closer, unphased and actually rather disappointed the fall wasn't longer. Glancing beside him he noted the accompanying bird falling with him, wings tucked at it's side, legs drawn to curl against it's body, the feathers, John noticed, moving like grass when a breeze pushes it. With a buck toothed smile of pure concentration John spreads his arms, willing the air around him to curl into the breeze, lift him, and lower him the thousand feet before he hits the open fields below him. 

 

Slowly the bands and patterned marks of sky blue that decorate his wrists, ankles, and throat begin to glow, strands of threadlike rays curving from one piece of the design to another, his long flowing hood snapping at the breeze far behind him in the same manner, curving, and arching in his wake. Sluggishly the wind, so free and welcoming, came to his aid, pulling at his arms to right him, and cradling him to catch him in its midst. Carefully he bent the breeze away from his Custos, the bird watching carefully as it began to pull up, flapping to keep itself right beside John the entire time, the avian version of a fatherly smile on its face. 

"I did it, Dad!!" 

"Indeed you did, Son" John's father's voice filling his head "I'm so-"

John giggled to himself before his father could finish "Proud of me?" a warm smile on his face. 

The bird gave a warbling laugh as it landed, waiting for John to disperse the wind and drop the last six feet before continuing "Yes, my John, I am so proud of you. More than you can imagine. You know what? I am going to make you a cake when we get home!" 

With that, John grimaced, a smile that seems to be printed on his face claiming the spot the downturned lips once held "Okay dad, I guess I'll eat some.." The Custos, recognizing this as John's affection shining through, quickly took John by the hood with his beak, pulling it over his face, "HEY!! NOT FUNNY DAD!", Mr. Egbert however, found it very funny indeed, letting his Prankster Gambit notch a bit farther up. "Come on, Son, lets go home" 

 

With a sigh and another giggle John climbed onto the back of his twelve foot tall Custos, smiling as they took off together, both knowing they had a lot of work waiting for them back on the Ocean's cliffside where the tribe rested for now.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god please kill me now. I am so horrible at actually sitting down and writing anything! I get so distracted! 
> 
> Anyways, I had been wanting to write this for forever now and I've finally gotten to it so I am so proud of myself! I will see how successful this is before possibly making a page on tumblr for this AU idea. This will probably end up being really long! I am going to try and update every week ( coughcoughliescough ) but, like I said I am so god awful at writing I may take longer. Thanks for reading my first fic though! I really appreciate it! Now this young man is off to eat some chicken nuggets. Until next time!
> 
> \------  
> Comments, kudos, and suggestions are always appreciated!


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